Episode two, titled “Náátosh,” dives deeper into both mysteries as Bernadette meets an apparent foe. Meanwhile, Joe’s search for the missing boy unearths strange occurrences.

The episode opens with two strangers riding to a desolate construction site. The driver identifies himself as the threat chasing the immigrant mother and daughter in the previous episode. The passenger, an older Mexican gentleman, remains silent as they sit and await someone’s arrival. Suddenly, the older man suffocates the driver with a plastic bag. He then dumps the truck off a cliff, burying it and its prisoner as he screams from below the surface.

Back in town, Leaphorn visits the coroner’s office to assist the family in identifying their murdered son. Joe struggles with flashbacks to his son’s death and sees another apparition linked to his past. Joe concludes the suspect isn’t Navajo and is sure Bowlegged George, the other missing youth, is the next target. Jim Chee questions Shorty’s cousin who admits he lied about Shorty’s whereabouts the night the boys went missing.

Joe returns to question the archaeologists about a particular item found on the boy’s body, which could link the dig site to the crime. The lead goes nowhere as the artifact is determined to be inauthentic. As he returns to the station, Joe’s wife, Emma, meets Agent Sylvia Washington and invites the new stranger for dinner.

At the border patrol, Bernadette inadvertently meets Tom Spenser of Spenser Oil. Invited to his spacious ranch, she finds a similar white van. Bernadette wonders if he’s connected to her encounter with the immigrants, but her curiosity is admonished as she’s told Spencer Oil is “untouchable.” That night on patrol Bernadette encounters a Spenser shipment with a familiar passenger: the older man from the episode’s opening scene. Bernadette delays their passage with a second inspection to no avail, but it’s clear something is awry.

Later, police issue a search warrant at Shorty’s home where Leaphorn experiences another hallucination. When a bloody hoof knife is found, Shorty is taken into custody for questioning. He is cleared as a suspect, but Jim Chee insists Shorty is involved. He questions Shorty that night and convinces him to reveal George’s hiding place; he’s stowed up in a distant cabin. But when they arrive, the boy is nowhere to be found as someone anticipated their presence.

The second episode leans harder into the idea of something mystical haunting the reservation. It could be a mix of Joe’s guilt causing him stress, especially with Sylvia infiltrating his circle of trust. Bernadette has good reason to be suspicious of how the town reserves criticism of the local tycoon. Strong performances lift the writers’ perfecting pacing, increasing tension in both narratives.

Rating: 8/10